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A few different charities have tried this in real life. Have a look around the Internet - searching for "homeless" and "tokens" together should work. |
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[editorial: "homeless" isn't a very complete title - if you can think of a better one, you could edit the idea title in the form you see when you're logged in. Just click "ok" afterwards, and the idea title should update itself.] |
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There's a similar system in England for refugees. Another way of achieving the same result is just to give food or buy them a meal. Then again, well, never mind, it's a complex issue about which people have strong feelings. |
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Welcome [liquidgecko] to the land of halfbaked goods.... but this is a cliché of an idea. Homeless people have as much right to spend any money they are given on alcohol as is anyone else. |
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Some French book from the 19th century tells about
the terrible feeling they had when instead of money
the poor had to use tickets for buying food, and
what it did to them. |
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Not all grocery owners are that nice. Read Angela's
Ashes by Frank Mccourt. |
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Different from foodstamps: the gov't provides
foodstamps. |
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Why shouldn't they spend it on booze? [-]. |
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You know how many people sell thier food stamps??? |
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I don't either. But I am sure it is more than we both would like to think. |
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Also, just buy them a cheesburger. A guy approached me the other day saying he needed a dollar to get to church. I offered him a ride to church and he declined. |
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I've heard too many stories of homeless people freaking out and harassing people who actually offer them food instead of money (even if their sign asks so). |
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If they want booze or drugs, they'll sell the tokens at a
discount to other poor folks. In The US, this is called Food
Stamps, but now it's a debit type card. |
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//Why shouldn't they spend it on booze// because
those who donate are doing so for the ultimate
utility of the troubled. To purchase drinks containing
alcohol is at best dishonest: representing a loss of
utility. |
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redundant with linked idea and so [marked-for-deletion] |
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moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake |
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Between the implementedness of the token programs in real life and the "Automat for the people" idea that goes a little further in fixing the "you can buy booze at a grocery store" problem, I'm agreeing with the marked-for-deletion tag. |
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hmmm suppose I never thought of food stamps, or grocery stores that carry alcohol... though here in ontario there is no such thing as grocery stores selling alcohol higher then O.5%. |
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[-] As several others have pointed out, these tokens will just be sold off for cash at significantly less than face-value. |
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Here in Tempe, AZ it is very common for "homeless" kids (they
are actually more like hobos) sit outside restaurants and beg for
people's doggy bags. |
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As far as this idea goes, here food stamps are actually debit
cards, and the grocery store's registers block purchases of non-
covered items, similar to the check that's done on coupons. |
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2025 - world financial market thrown into chaos as homeless person's tokens futures market crashes. Financial services regulators in [insert name of your own country] said "it was impossible to predict..." |
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Sadly, it has already been tried, and it didn't always go down too well. UK tried a giving vouchers to asylum seekers scheme and it did seem to end up just another market. |
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For literature reference, try Steinbeck's 'Cannery Row' and the frog/whisky exchange rate negotiations. |
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